CHAPEL HILL - The Orange County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing Monday on raising the county's school impact fees.

"This is going to be a hard sell this year," Commissioner Mike Nelson said recently. "We need to do it this year, but it's probably the worst possible year to bite this off."

Orange County has levied impact fees to help pay for new school construction since 1993. The impact fees, which vary for different types of housing, supplement sales and property taxes.

In the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district the fees are now $4,407 for single family and multi-wide manufactured homes and $1,979 for multi-family and single-wide manufactured homes.

In the Orange County Schools district, the fees are now $3,000 for single family and multi-wide manufactured homes and $1,420 for multi-family and single-wide manufactured homes.

Orange County has not raised impact fees since 2001.

The fees are supposed to reflect the cost of adding new students, and the consultant advises the county on the maximum fee it can legally defend. Current fees represent 60 percent of the defensible fee in the city school district and 56 percent of the defensible fee in the county school district, a level the county school board asked the commissioners to maintain.

The commissioners will decide whether or not to increase impact fees after Monday's hearing.

Here are the maximum supportable fees and the range being considered in each school district. The commissioners stressed at a recent meeting and in the agenda for Monday's public hearing that they are not considering charging the maximum fees.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools

Single-family detached: Maximum fee, $19,039; Range under consideration, $5,069 to $11,423

Single-family attached: Maximum fee, $11,016; Range under consideration, $2,974 to $6,610

Multi-family: Maximum fee, $2,144; Range under consideration, $579-$1,286

Manufactured homes: Maximum fee $8,232; Range under consideration, $2,223 to $4,939

Orange County Schools

Single-family detached: Maximum fee, $9,372; Range under consideration, $3,000 to $5,623

Single-family attached/multifamily: Maximum fee, $2,905; Range under consideration, $930 to $1,743

Manufactured homes: Maximum fee $4,463; Range under consideration, $1,428 to $2,678

Commissioners have said they also want to talk with local state legislators again about an impact tax, which would be based on home value. They haven't been able to win state approval to levy the tax.

IF YOU GO

Monday's public hearing begins at 7:30 p.m. in the new Orange County Courthouse (downstairs courtroom), 106 E. Margaret Lane in Hillsborough.

WHAT DO NEW HOMES COST?

Impact fees represented just over 1 percent of the sales price of new homes in 2001, the last year the county raised them. Here is a look at what those homes cost.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools

In 2001, the average price of a new single-family detached home (217 closed sales) was $393,445. The median was $364,900.

In 2007, the average price of a new single family detached home (74 closed sales) was $805,707. The median was $764,394.

Orange County Schools

In 2001, the average price of a new single-family detached home (95 closed sales) was $233,626. The median was $228,000.

In 2007, the average price of a new single family detached home (110 closed sales) was $337,775. The median was $284,968.

Source: MLS closed sales data for average; proprietary appraisal software for median, using MLS data. Not all sales are entered into MLS.